A.J. Alfafara is 47 years old and has a life rebuilt on the ashes of a past that civil law refuses to bury. Although she hasn't heard from her husband in over a decade, the Philippine state still considers her his wife. This activist encountered the cruelty of the system when trying to buy a home: a routine procedure became a wall when the notary informed her that, without the signature of a man who had been missing for ten years, she had no legal standing to acquire her own roof over her head. Her case is not an anecdote, but a reflection of a legal structure that keeps tens of thousands of women in the Philippines – one of only two countries in the world, along with the Vatican, where divorce is illegal – trapped in marriages that now only exist on the republic's stamped paper.

Between April and May 1954, one of the most ambitious expeditions of the Ethnological Museum of Barcelona, inaugurated in 1949, was organized in the protectorate of Morocco. The sculptor Eudald Serra, who was part of the expedition, wanted to model a nude bust, but local law and morals made it impossible to find any woman who would pose. Serra did not give up; he simply looked where colonial power was absolute. With the collaboration of the Spanish authorities, he visited prisons, reformatories, and "public houses." The use of sex workers as models was systematic and deliberate in many campaigns, taking advantage of their extreme vulnerability in a context of colonial domination.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has indicted former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on three counts of crimes against humanity. It says he was involved in the murder of at least 76 people in the context of his bloody war on drugs, in a trial that was scheduled to begin this Tuesday but has been postponed. "Duterte is individually criminally responsible" for dozens of murders as an "indirect co-perpetrator," the ICC states in a charge sheet drafted in July but published Monday night, according to Efe.

The dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, which marks its 80th anniversary this Wednesday and precipitated the end of World War II, was not an isolated or merely scientific decision: it was the result of a total war in the Pacific that, in its final stages, reached brutal levels. The Manila massacre in February 1945 left more than 100,000 civilians dead and a city—which had been one of the "pearls of the Orient"—reduced to ashes. Shortly after, in Okinawa, Japanese resistance turned suicidal, and the civilian population actively participated, even with massive kamikaze attacks. For the US military command, these episodes were a chilling warning of what an invasion of mainland Japan could entail.

During election campaigns, all politicians make promises. Some seem feasible and are credible to voters, but the politicians themselves already know they won't be able or willing to keep them. Colossal promises, at the very least, denote determination, courage, and commitment on the part of the person making them. Rodrigo Duterte campaigned to become the new president of the Philippines, no one believed he could or would keep the barbaric promises he repeated at every rally and in every interview to restore order and security by summarily executing as many drug dealers and junkies as he could. Once he came to power in 2016, Duterte did keep his promise. And the killing began.

Patricia Evangelista defines herself as a "trauma journalist," who has learned to investigate violent deaths while trying not to contribute to the trauma of the victims' families. As a journalist Rappler, the online media outlet founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria RessaEvangelista investigated dozens of murders committed during the war on drugs. of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, which left at least 6,000 dead, according to official data. Someone must kill them (Comanegra), full of brutal and meticulously contrasted stories, could be presented as damning evidence in the trial against Duterte, which is Detained in The Hague, accused of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC)The first translation offer for her book (originally in English) she received anywhere in the world was from Comanegra, who wanted to publish it in Catalan. Evangelista is now in Barcelona as the CCCB's fourth international resident, a project carried out in collaboration with the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) and the Mir-Puig Private Foundation.

"One night, while I was sleeping, they broke into my house, hid several weapons among my children's toys, and arrested me without a warrant, accusing me of false charges," explains Cora Agovida, her voice breaking from the headquarters of Karapatan, the leading Philippine human rights organization. Four years ago, when Rodrigo Duterte was president of the Philippines, she was imprisoned. "My 'crime' was being part of the Gabriela women's movement: they accused me of terrorism and belonging to a rebel group," she explains. "Without a sentence, I was locked up for three years in the Manila women's prison, the most congested in the country."

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, accused of crimes against humanity, has been arrested by police upon arrival at Manila's international airport. He was wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for repeatedly violating human rights with extrajudicial executions during his "war on drugs."

Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, accused of crimes against humanity, has been arrested by police upon arrival at Manila's international airport. He was wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for repeatedly violating human rights with extrajudicial executions during his "war on drugs."

AJ Alfafara, 46, a Protestant and founder of the Divorce Pilipinas coalition, separated from her husband more than 12 years ago and says she has not seen her son for more than a decade, since he – aged 9 – chose to live with his father, who came from a family with certain conditions. A few months ago, Alfafara, who works as a virtual office assistant and is studying at university, wanted to buy a house, but was told that she needed her husband's signature.

The military plane crash in the southern Philippines has so far left 45 dead and dozens injured, while rescue teams are searching for a score of people in the charred wreckage of the ship. At least two of the fatalities are civilians and the rest of the dead are soldiers, Philippine authorities confirmed on Sunday. Both the seriousness of those that are wounded and the fact that the 20 or so occupants of the plane have not yet been located raises fears that the death toll could rise in the coming hours.